After announcing that the league has canceled all games through Nov. 30 and dashing any hopes of a full 82-game schedule [see post below], Commissioner David Stern says that the NBA’s position will harden from here, given the fact that the league, according to Stern, has lost $200 million by missing out on the preseason and will lose hundreds of millions more with the loss of November games.

“We’re going to have to recalculate how bad the damage is … The NBA’s offer will necessarily — its next offer — will reflect the extraordinary losses that are starting to pile up now,” Stern said.

“Both sides are very badly damaged. The amount of dollars lost to the owners is extraordinary. And the amount of dollars lost to players under individual contracts is also extraordinary … You can make computations about who’s going to be able to make it back and who’s not going to be able to make it back. I’m not sure that any time in the short run the owners will be able to make it back.

“And I know for a fact that in the short run, the players will not be able to make it back and probably never be able to make it back.”

Stern said that the league was willing to come up to 50 percent in the split of BRI. But “[union head] Billy Hunter said he was not willing to go a penny below 52 [for the players’ share], that he had been getting many calls from agents, and then he closed up his book and walked out of the room.”

As close as things seemed late Thursday … they seem as far apart now as they’ve ever been. Now, we have to wonder again about Christmas Day games and, indeed, whether there will be a 2011-12 season at all.

“Yes. Our games are canceled through Nov. 30,” said Commissioner David Stern. And then he completely, and finally, doused any thoughts that an 82-game schedule still could be squeezed into a time-shortened season.

“It’s not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now. There will not be a full NBA season under any circumstances,” Stern said.

The league had a 50-game season in 1999. That season didn’t begin until early February. Owners and players did not agree on a new collective bargaining agreement back then until early January.

+++

UPDATE, 5:53 p.m.ish ET: A thought:

If the owners were negotiating on “system” issues with the understanding that the players would accept 50-50, and the players won’t accept 50-50, does that mean all the work done in the past 30 hours or so on those “system” issues has to be done again?

Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver are expected to talk soon. Watch for it here and on NBA TV.

“We made a lot of concessions but this time, unfortunately, it’s not enough.”

No word of more meetings scheduled. At this time, cancellations of more games seems almost certain.

Sigh.

+++

UPDATE:, 5:20 p.m.ish ET: “Today wasn’t the day to try and close this out,” Derek Fisher, the Lakers’ guard and president of the players’ union, tells reporters in the lobby of the hotel where the talks were held.

Fisher said the players are sticking to their desire to claim 52.5 percent of BRI. The owners have said they want a 50-50 split.

The players decided not to meet in a formal interview session, so there was no live coverage on NBA TV. The league is expected to meet formally in a news conference that will be carried live on NBA TV …

+++

UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.ish ET: ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) is reporting that the talks hit a roadblock when the owners and players couldn’t agree on the BRI split. Owners still at 50-50. Players don’t want to go lower than 52.

Windhorst also tweeting that more cancellations coming …

This is not good.

+++

UPDATE, 4:43 p.m.ish ET: The New York Times (@HowardBeckNYT) tweets that the talks have ended for the day. Reporters are waiting on a possible news conference.

UPDATE, 2 p.m.ish ET: With the NBA’s labor negotiations blowing past the 3 1/2 hour mark Friday — that’s close to 26 hours of yakking since owners and players resumed talks Wednesday at noon — we asked NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner to give us a feel for the mood at the swanky New York hotel he’s been snuggled up in for the past way too many hours.

Asch says:

NEW YORK – Competing values are at work, along with the well-worn backsides of the huddled media folks covering the NBA labor talks, on the lockout’s 120th day.

The level of optimism for a deal was as high as it had been since the dispute began, fueled by the words and tone Thursday evening by NBA commissioner David Stern and union executive director Billy Hunter. “Tomorrow” was mentioned by both, with Stern vowing “one heck of a shot” and Hunter talking of “striking distance” for at least a handshake agreement.

Then again, reporters – and by extension, NBA fans – had been down this road before only to see and hear a few moments of enthusiasm tamped down by “blood” issues and newly entrenched positions. For one thing, there were more people in the room beyond the desirable “small groups” that tend to achieve the most progress in such negotiations. For another, the two sides were determined to address BRI today. That’s the dreaded split of basketball-related revenues that had been avoided since talks broke off Oct. 20, the most heated night of the lockout so far. Thus the forecast: Volatility.

It’s one thing for the bomb squad to pat itself on the back for discovering the device, cordoning off the area and undoing a few screws. It’s something entirely different to finally choose which wire – green or blue – to snip.

UPDATE, 12:45 p.m. ET: Now, roughly two hours into the third straight day of labor meetings, representatives for the NBA’s owners and players have been joined by some heavyweights, on both sides.

New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul, a member of the National Basketball Players Association executive committee, has joined in the talks, along with fellow exec committee member Theo Ratliff of the L.A. Lakers. Also in the room again today is economist Kevin Murphy of the University of Chicago. They’ll sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Lakers guard Derek Fisher, the union’s president, and Billy Hunter, the NBPA’s executive director

Dallas Mavericks owners Mark Cuban, who took part in Thursday’s seven-hour session, came back for Friday’s sit-down, too. He is teaming, according to NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner, with owners Peter Holt (Spurs), Glen Taylor (Timberwolves) and Jim Dolan (Knicks), along with NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver.

10:45 a.m. ET: The biggest day of the most miserable NBA offseason in years has arrived, with the promise either to send this offseason into new depths of unimaginable miserableness or — and this is the prevailing sentiment — get the league, and its fans, back to the business of basketball.

Key players for the owners and players are meeting yet again in New York in an attempt to fashion a collective bargaining agreement that both sides can live with. After more than seven hours of meetings Thursday, the two sides now are closer than they ever have been in the 120 days of the lockout. Both NBA Commissioner David Stern and National Basketball Players Association head Billy Hunter expressed optimism — as guarded as it might be — that an agreement could be reached this weekend, and maybe as early as Friday.

Both sides caution that much work is left to be done. But a lot of the back-and-forth on “system” issues, including the makeup of a new luxury tax system, was undertaken on Wednesday (during a 15-hour session) and Thursday. On Friday, the two sides are expected to tackle the split of revenue known as Basketball-Related Income.

At stake, immediately, is the survival of an 82-game season, a carrot that has helped each side get down to business this week. It’s still unclear if a full season of games can be pulled off. But both sides are expected to give it their best shots today. The New York Times reported on Friday that the NBA has asked teams to look into arena dates in late April, after the regular season normally has ended. That’s a sign that an 82-game schedule is still a possibility.

198 Comments

This is a salary based job – if you do not like your initial deal do not take it – again why players need a union is beyond me , you are worth whatever you are worth according to market. If you are a great player you will get paid, period.

But seriously – nobody cares anymore, people are going to move on after realizing how greedy these guys (NBA Players) are. The owners are greedy, but everyone already knows this – these NBA players have become so greedy – they are messing it up for everyone else

I was a fan of the NBA, but my team (SEATTLE SONICS) got jacked!

You all make millions – and all they can do is wine and moan about this? Wow pathetic

PLEASE for the love of basketball, someone, anyone, tell me how the owners lost any money. they(owners) have said they have lost money on the past seasons. so they are telling me that they have lost all these millions that they would have had to lose again.i dont have a shoe store. look at the millions i have lost not having a nike store….. oh me….

You should think of this like a regular job – what was the need for the players to stop playing and doing their job in the first place? They were not making enough?

They are getting great offers then they deny. At this point it is foolish on their end, there are also many people out of work, due to these guys not breing able to come to a “Reasonable” agreement. Should the players own the teams now?

SMH – as you can see from my simple statement, these players are fighting for millions when they likely already make more than anyone posting on this thread.

Perhaps you should just turn off your TV when you see NBA on tv to show them you do not support their greed.

I really feel that the owners had this orchestrated from the beginning. The factor here is not about the players. The Big arenas don’t want to give to the smaller arenas, so instead they are trying to get money off the backs of the players first to see how much they can get, and whatever is left, then the big arenas will pay the difference to the smaller arenas. I think we are forgetting about the small guys (rookies, minimum guys) that don’t make very much money, but put their bodies through torture coming into the league playing an 82-game season. That’s why the players are working so hard for future upcoming players. While owners are trying to be greedy. I have to agree that some GM’s have given bad contracts, and owners hey you just have to live with that mistake. Believe me when you are missing money again, you will think about it rather than trying to squeeze it off the backs of the players that have came down off their offer. I wouldn’t have came down more than 53%.

to the nba players and the team owners, i hope you will consider the most important part of the nba. the FANS…… dont forget that you are there to entertain and give happiness to fans who are supporting you all the way. God bless all of you

Ok all i have to say is that all of this is pointless i mean how much money will they lose if they make a 50/50 agreement?? Like seriously both owners and players have everything they want and a lot of money to spend. Its just stupid i mean they are keeping the fans from enjoying the game of basketball if there were love for the game and love for the fans this crap would not be happening they would of made an agreement a long time ago but nah all they care is about $ like if they need it, like if they are starving. Im done with this stupidity

All these owners are making so much money, that they should cancel all 82 games. if that happens owners will be affected so much all the money they are going to lose. If this takes too long i hope when games are being played fans should t not be going to the games. is a shame there will be no 82 games to be played.

Everybody is dumb. So agree on 50/50 already. Sorry players, you cant buy a new bentley or something extravagant this year. You might have to save like real people, which you are, but you have way way to big of heads. Come down to earth. Why do players think they need to get paid more than the bosses????? All in all thats really who the owners are. Get with it and start the season.

I hope this talk lasts forever – it’s becoming more interesting than the ball games. It’s a game between owners and players where losing is not only the ego but also real money.Humm, so much better than TV poker!

this really sucks. The players are simply too greedy. and they keep telling us how much the love to play basketball and how much they dislike the lock-out.. but that’s simply not true. Otherwise they would have gotten the deal done a long time ago..
I’m really disappointed in the players..

There are many players making more than $1,000,000 per month. Rashard makes aprox $57,000 per day.
As you can see, they make a lot of money. A normal person would say the money is not an issue here.
What do you think about this? Where is the love for the game?

this blows…i was really lookin foward 2 seein a lot of things like if any big names like howard or cp3 get traded, seein shaq on tnt, seein how gay can fit in wit the overachievin entertainin grizzlies, if portland can finally stay healthy wit the lineup of felton roy wallace alridge oden and then batum and matthews off the bench, i’m curious who the heat pick up next, how mike brown will do in la la land, see if the clippers surround griffin and gorden wit anybody so they could finally get over the hump, how much pressure cleveland puts on their #1 draft pick, how the champs will defend their title, and 2 see if the bulls finally pick-up a scoring shooting guard 2 help rose out, and finally 2 see all the trash talkin on mark jackson since he made those ridiculous comments…but now whatever does happen will not be as exciting as a REAL nba season…the champs r gonna be a joke like the spurs in 99, even though timmy got 3 more REAL titles in the 21st century…

NBA is a business and if the teams are losing money, this isnt be sustainable over the long run. What we don’t want to see is a league with only 25 or even 20 teams, you have to think of the future and where will the league be in five ten years time. Do these players really need another porsche in their driveway……

Im no economist so i couldn’t even begin to speculate on what kind of influence the NBA has on our economy but the lock out sure isn’t helping. But i guess if your already rich you’re not quite as concerned about the economy as the little guy might be. And you’re most likely not at all concerned about the little guy or his family. Hence the occupy wall street. Get the deal done so a lot of people can have there jobs back!!!

Thanks to NBA my interest in my local competion (Australia’s NBL) has increased dramatically. As someone who used to check NBA.com multiple times a day, I now visit maybe once a week. I believe this lockout is damaging not just the NBA but also the reputation of basketball worldwide. Frankly, if the NBA folded here and now I don’t think it would be a disaster. What is a disaster is the constant whining from both sides about how bad they have it. If I had the ability, I and many people like me would love to play basketball for a living.

I wish the NBA had a mechanism to allow fans to write to David Stern. But the NBA dare not, because if it did, David Stern would be receiving millions of hate mail. I for one would like to let David Stern and the owners know that I am one fan that is displeased with the owners’ lack of sincerity. I am voting with my feet against the NBA owners by walking away from the only sport I enjoy watching.

I am starting to realize that a lot more people than I thought are going to lose money and that the players and the owners need to come up with a deal, like right now. WE, THE SOPOSE TO LOYAL FAN OF THE NBA, are going to get deprived of a season that was going to be highly anticipated and had theotential to be one of the top 5 best seasons ever. DAVID STERN needs to wake up and realize that the NBA is in the most trouble its been in its 65 plus years of exsitance.The point is,we the fans wwant a season and NOW.

You have the EXTREMELY RICH fighting with the ULTRA RICH as both want more money collected from us fans. Do you think I really care??? They will just increase the cost of watching games or cost of merchandise to get the profits anyway. So don’t expect me to cry over the RICHES wanting more money at the fans expense!!! Why don’t the both receive less money and give the hardworking fans a break??? Now that would be something I would root for…

I, for one, can’t wait to throw myself into a season of NCAA hoops. Entertaining games, great talent…and no WHINING!!! Enjoy these kids now while they’re still playin’ for the love of the game and not the love of more $$$.

This is absolute garbage…. You have muti millionaires, if not billionaires on both sides arguing for alittle bit of money which honestly doesnt matter to either side, because of how wealthy they both are! Suck it up, and freaking meet halfway! How could you be that self absorbed that even with all your wealth you fight for more money which your probabky not goning to use or even worse waste on useless things in your life.

The Fans of the NBA are the ones suffering, simply because of a ~ 3% change both sides want. I know many people who life on a check to check basis that still make time and money to watch the NBA, i can’t believe how self abosrbed and greedy the offcials and players of the NBA are…

Il be in NY for Thanks Giving. I journey to NY twice a year to see family and most of all see my beloved Knicks. Im coming from UK. I was hoping to get court side this year. But there’s no season in November. It’s a dam shame to see what the league has turned into. I hope David Stern has the intelligence to listen to the fans as there’s alot of apathy that is now turning into indifference. I love basketball like a wife. Turns out the NBA doesn’t feel the same.

I SAY YES TO CLOSE THE 11-12 SEASON, YES TO THE OWNERS & PLAYERS NOT GETTING PAID FOR THE SEASON, NO TO THE OTHER NBA STAFF (cameramen, janitors who clean the court etc.) NOT GETTING PAID, & YES TO PEOPLE WHO “TRULY” DESERVE MILLIONS, ADMIRATION & RESPECT! (teachers, firefighters erc.)

It’s about time both parties wake up and realise what they are doing is wrong.Both parties need to get in the real world , especially with many people in the US struggling with the poor economy.I live in Australia and l am hanging out for the NBA to start , if it continues then my interest will disappear.

I know American sport is all about the money , just think they need to start the season asap.The players and owners don’t have money issues at all , think of the people who sell food , drinks etc.They have no oppotunity to make a living with this crap continuing.It’s about time they think of the common man in the street , who struggles to put food on the table every week for the family.

The OWNERS are now being selfish they want everything proposed from their side to be agreed on. The players have agreed and sacrificied already to some of the proposals. Now the owners are just being damn SELFISH and that s horrible. They are horrible people and just greedy. The least they could do is meet the players halfway. If the players said they are not doing the 50-50 split stop offering it and stop playing with the fans. CANCEL THE WHOLE NBA ALREADY THE PLAYERS DID NOT AGREE TO THE 50-50 SPLIT LAST WEEK, WHAT MAKES THIS WEEK DIFFERENT?? THE OWNERS ARE STUPID PEOPLE AND IGNORANT. IF THEY REALLY REALLY CARED THEY WOULD OF MADE A DIFFERENT PROPOSAL A LONG TIME AGO. THE OWNERS ARE SELFISH AND GREEDY. HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU GUYS WANT????????????????? MEET THE PLAYERS HALF-WAY NOT NUMBER WISE REALISTIC WISE

The owners are losing money. Open your eyes. If the owners are losing money year after year they will go bankrupt and if there bankrupt the players will get nothing. Correct the situation now, the players already make to much. If they cant take a bit of a pay cut then they shouldnt play.

Just for the record:
A lot of folks think that the just expired BRI was 53% players, 47% management. However, the just expired BRI was actually 57% players, 43% management. Management’s initial offer in the current negotiation was 39% players, 61% management (now that’s establishing a starting point). Management is currently suggesting that it increase its share to 50% (a 7% increase) while the players would reduce their share to 50% (a 7% decrease)… that’s a substantial swing. The players have offered a 4.5% reduction to 52.5%. That would place management at 47.5% which is a 4.5% increase.
While I understand that (1) a player’s NBA life expectancy is limited and they want to make as much as they can while they can; and (2) a player can get injured and shorten his NBA life expectancy thereby limiting his earning power, I also understand that NBA management invests real dollars in an effort to be profitable. An NBA franchise is a business investment. Sure some owners are big fans, but many just want to see a decent return on investment. I understand that management also invests in additional promotions to try to generate added revenue. If that promotion is profitable, the player’s share of the BRI also increases even though the players have not invested additional time or money in those promotions.
My bottom line on the entire lockout is: I have season tickets for a big market team. I pay a lot of money for two tickets so that I can sit very close to the floor (row BB center court). I made the investment because there is a particular player with whom my wife and I have connected in a special way. However, once he is no longer a member of this particular team, we are finished with the NBA. The NBA has demonstrated greed personified on every level…players, management, and particularly agents. They probably will replace my money with someone else’s, but, from a very personal point of view, I have better things to do with $15K+ per year.

What the hell happened to the famous “NBA CARES” attitude? Were those simply “shows” to market the game? At this time of economic hardships and never ending recession, will the players and owners CARE enough for millions of basketball fans the world over, arrive at a descent bargain agreement and play basketball not for money but pride in the hoop sports???

If these players who make way too much money already in a recession filled world cant live with 50 percent profit sharing, then let them sit forever. Lower it even more and teach them a lesson. Why cant they play for the love of the game rather than for money. I think its pathetic and maybe they should look at how much money the average fan makes and open there eyes. They wont get any sympathy from the majority of the fans who have took pay cuts or lost there jobs in the last few years.

Can NBA.com put up a poll to see where the fans stand in terms of BRI? Im curious to see where the real fans are on this issue. Maybe the visual can put a jolt in both sides for them to see what their fans have to say!

Aren’t you reading the comments…. It’s pretty obvious that most fans are not in favor of the players here. Something that D-Fish and the rest of the union should be reading and taking into consideration.

October 29, 2011 at 12:53 pm
I’m going to give my two cents as well………………
Owners and Players don’t care about us, So why we should care about them, Lets make a fans lockout, When they decide to start the NBA Season again, we should make them pay for what they’re doing to us….If no one shows up at the arenas they will start caring a little bit more for us, and not only think about money

Billy Hunter spoke the true reason for the lack of cooperation in getting a deal done when he decided to leave the meeting: “…that he had been getting many calls from agents,” That’s where the real greed lies. The only one’s who will derive anything positive by the union holding out for 52.5% is the agents on future deals that might make for players yet to even be eligible for the NBA. The players are being taken for a ride, once again, by the agents.

This is so true… I say f··%/·%(·!) the agents. They should try to come up with a system that doesn’t need agents and this could put like 10% or I don’t know how much of actual players salaries on the table to redistribute. I say the union has to put this to a vote now. I bet 50-50 would win by a mile.

I’m going to give my to cents as well………………
Owners and Players don’t care about us, So why we should care about them, Lets make a fans lockout, When they decide to start the Nba Season again, we should make them pay for what they’re doing to us….If no one shows up at the arenas they will start caring a little bit more for us, and not only think about money

The entire lockout is all about greed. if players and owners would both accept the fact they they make quadruple the amount of an average american citizen we could watch some basketball again. selfishness can destroy who u are as a person as well as a professional. the 50-50 split is kind of fair *sigh* i admit ! But i also understand where the players are coming from. they figure “we do all the work why should we split it in half?” thats understanable and im sure we’ve all been in that position somewhere in life, but COME ON GUYSSS! The nba players and owners always speak about how much “THE FANS” mean to them … if you all really loved “THE FANS” u would put aside the selfishness and start playin some ball!

The owners don’t have to accept anything, because they are losing money. The only people making millions here are the players at the owners expense. And they are willing to bring the business down in flames. Very smart guys indeed.

If the players are smart, they should seal a deal as soon as possible. The longer they take, the more fans are going to start siding with the owners. Everyone stands up for the players when a lock out starts, but once games get cancelled you start hearing stuff like ”Spoiled brats” and ”Greedy whiners”. I’d love for the players to get a good deal, but if they take too long, the owners will have all the support and the control of the negotiations, and they’ll end up losing money.

I understand that owners have to make money and until they don’t get the right percentage we might not go forward BUT what I was surprised to find out form David Aldridge’s last update is that owners might have agreed on the system. As per his words there will be a 1.5$ for each dollar over tax threshold on the first 5 – 10 million. And will go up from there. If that is correct we did not made much progress in establishing a competitive NBA league. The “rich” teams will over spend again and the discrepancy will still be there. I was hoping they implement a hard cap which will ensure a more competitive basketball.
As a fan that’s what I want to see.

Me too orn. Fact is, the players don’t want this. They want a limitless amount of player expenditure and don’t care if this comes from just a few big market teams. As I mentioned on an earlier blog, the end result of this is a similar situation to our European soccer leagues (I’m from the UK), which are all dominated by 2 or 3 big clubs with the others just fighting for scraps. Very dull and potentially damaging as many fans over here are slowly starting to lose interest.

How much appeal would a 6 or 8 team NBA have, for example? Very little IMHO.

Both sides have lost themselves long time… Forgot the very basics of where all this all money come from… from fans, who come to games in arenas, who seat in front of TVs. By doing this, they will loose interest in the game and the long term loses will be much greater. It is sad.
I am not keeping anybody’s side. It is just sad, that with all this money rolling in, they all lost completely track, who is providing the money. Showing less respect to fans by cancelling games (both sides foult) will be costly for both parties. Obvious.
Tomasz, from Poland

The players need to stop saying that they’ve “come down” from 57. 57 clearly wasn’t working for the league so it can’t be a suitable starting point. Just because they negotiated a great deal in the past doesn’t mean said deal is set in stone and can be agreed again. If you win a hand at the poker table it doesn’t mean you only play again if you’re guaranteed a win. Face facts NBA players – you screwed the league 6 years ago and the league is now, quite reasonably, looking to restore a little economic balance.

57 again would kill the league, thus their starting point at best should have been about 53. So 50 seems a reasonable compromise and still a partial victory over the owners’ initial 47 (which the NBPA have yet to convince me or anyone else was a “money grab” and doesn’t have serious financial merit).

It is the players who don’t want this season to start, they are detached from economic reality and will quite happily kill the league with anti-competition cap concessions and salary over-payments just to satisfy their ridiculously oversized egos. Even as a huge basketball fan, I would rather see 10 NBA seasons missed than concede another dime to these greedy delusionists.

Let me start off by saying that i am a HUGE NBA fan. I watch every single game i can and always catch the highlights online or on tv, and i’m from Australia.

I’ve given up hope of an NBA this season.

Billy Hunter does not play the game of basketball and has no right being in that room. In fact, this should be solved by the courts, both sides are childish, greedy and oblivious to the fact that their league will only go further down the bottom of the barrel the longer this goes on.

It’s ironic that they are they are fighting over the “4 Billion” (or thereabouts) RBI, cause there is no way on earth they will ever see a number like that again during their lives.

I think the owners should look for some chinks in the chain on players’ side and try to wipe out all the string pulling veterans and start from scratch, as I am pretty sure there are lots of talented guys that want to play nba basketball in this country.

I am sick and tired of seeing D. Fish in his well-matched suit, talking about the same on and on, ” this wasn’t the day” “we made some progress”, ” there are some issues on the table” “they are not where we want to be” etc. I suggest he go shoot some ball because come season he will be the most booed player in any arena

this dispute over money between millionaires is turning into a farce and even if they do reach an agreement I say fans should just boycott at least some part of the season so they see what it is like to play in empty arenas

I agree with you. It does not have to be part of the season. If we just stay out of going to games and watching the games on tv for only 1 week is all we need. Basketball Related Income at 53% x 0 Guess what Fisher is 0.00.
No respect for Fisher anymore all basketball has done for him including an owner giving him a way out so he could be with his daughter here in Los Angeles. WOW

What about the money that the WORKERS are losing out on all over the country?? These people are fighting over millions of dollars while I wonder how I am going to pay my mortgage payment and put food on my table since I have no job??

Players protecting a way of life, free agency, grossly exagerated salaries and feel like it should go on forever. The players keep living in Pollyanna land.

Owners are basically asking for this deal to protect them from themselves, and the bonehead moves they have made through the years, so as far as their own admission, 2/3’s of the teams are actually in the red…

If the 2/3 of teams are actually in the red, as they league claims, then the owners would be foolish to accept any deal, that would keep them there. They are in fact losing LESS money by not playing.

And the poor taxpayers keep to keep getting in the neck with New Stadium taxes, high prices, and loss of income for indirectly basketball related jobs. The rest of us are struggling with the worse economic crisis in 70 years, and the owners keep throwing money at players whose talents don’t deserve it, and in the end lose. But they have to to maintain some resemblence of competiveness with the high price, major market teams.

The players need to wake up to the fact, that the owners have already realized.
PARITY IS THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THIS MESS.

If they don’t figure this out this will indeed be a long lockout, including the possibility of a lost season, and the owners fielding new teams with rookies, and crossover veterans next season.

Damn…
I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I’m beginning to read the handwriting on the wall…

I’M DONE WITH THE NBA. That’s it. It’s just ridiculous, I lost ALL the love I had for this game. All this talk about money sickens me! Both the “players” and the “owners” just won’t realize how fortunate they are. I mean, just look at the world right now, the economy, so many people trying to find a job, and so many others praying to keep theirs! While these guys keep trying to get every last buck they can. It’s just so sad! I hope one day they will all realize that…

We played ball in gravel driveways when I was younger, picking rocks outta our knees to score a basket. Now these NBA players can’t play because they don’t make enough money? Who’s these people trying to kid?

I was not going to watch after all the lockout stuff, then i come by the site today and it said it might be over today, i thought, well shoot maybe i will if they resolve it. Now i am really disappointing, i am done with the NBA, and all the greedy people. If the NFL can resolve their issues and the NBA can’t something is not right. I hope fans all across the nation stop watching, and supporting this league

MackDaddy, let me bring you a dose of reality. You may be the product, but there are a thousand more of THAT product that can be replace NO PROBLEM and yes the owners are just that OWNERS. I can have my son watch other players with more heart and drive, than to have them watch players with their greedy millions wind up on the 6 o’clock news for their DUI or fighting or murder or drug dealing. You say you can get an alternative league going, good, go, LEAVE I will NOT BE WATCHING IT.

Let them try and start a new league. How are they going to find 20+ owners when the current ones have failed to turn a profit?

keep thinking is right – players come and players go. Owners who take huge financial risks are less easy to come by. This is the crux of the players’ flawed logic – they are NOT the product, the framework is vastly more important than they think.

They are lucky to even be involved in these negotiations. How many of us have that luxury in our working lives? Would it be a terrible situation to have the league say: “Right, this is what we’re doing and you can accept it or leave the sport”. Clearly this would be less desirable and I am not against the idea of unions per se but this is a clear example of a union that thinks it knows better than a governing body, with precisely no figures to back it up, just a bunch of egotistic gunslingers.

Everyone in the world is going through a recession and either lost there job or took a pay cut. Obviously 57 percent doesnt work because the owners are losing money. Try giving the players what they want every year which is obviously too much and soon you wont even have a league because every team will be bankrupt. Then the players will be getting zero percent. Anyone should be able too understand poor business is when you lose money, and so if your losing money you need to correct the situation to make it work, which would be to lower expenses. If you couldnt pay your bills because your expenses were to high, and you kept on in this fashion you would go bankrupt as well.

What is sad is that the NBA fails to realize this lockout is not just about the players and owners but who pays them? the fans and the where does the money come from? the people who attend the games and the people who work the concessions and people who work at the games and sells the tickets etc. They are jobless and the cities are hurting they are losing tax revenue so time to realizr the larger picture, this wound is getting worse and will require major surgery but if it keeps lingering then their is no recovery. Wake up and realize who is actually hurting?

I hope NBA will begin soon! I am dying to watch some basketball right now. I want to see my team the Golden State Warriors. I will be really pissed if they dont reach an agreement soon. COME ON ITS GAMETIME!!!!

I feel like I’m being lied to every time David Stern, or Derek Fisher, or Billy Hunter, or anyone involved with this travesty of a negotiation comes on TV and says, “We’re making progress.” How many times are we going to have to hear that and see nothing happen before it becomes obvious that neither side is interested in making a deal. It was several seasons ago that the owners said they were prepared not to play this season to get what they wanted. I think that’s pretty obvious at this point.

No business can ‘guarantee’ profit. It’s disingenuous to try and screw your players into absorbing the losses for all of your bad business decisions. It’s disrespectful to the fans, who pay every last one of your salaries, who allow you to be the greedy, grubby little men you are.

This is disgraceful on so many levels, and I believe none of you deserve even a small fraction of the money you have. Meet the players at 52.5. They’ve given enough concessions already.

I see the Nov Games were canceled. Stern said on his intervue that all Players were to get there full Pay if they were able to come up with a deal. Well the Players would have cost the owners up to 60 per cent if they had put a pen and paper to the loss the owmers have had lost with no Pre Season Games and all the the concessions with this.
When you look at this The Players are going to lose much more when every thing is played out.
I being in business for my self. Players have put a deadly Blow in there future .
Owners are going to play HARD BALL NOW.
What i see now is another Union out of control and the Players will pay for this.
I do remember OUT BOARD MARINE went out on strike and the union members were all smiles .
Cheif Union Stewart and half there members lost there job. Oh the Cheif Stewart works at TJ FRIDAYS now.
Hail to the Unions.

The Pimps lockeked their bread winners out and now Stearn is saying any money that the Pimps lose will come out of the players pocket,that sounds like a landlord locking out a tenet because they want more money but try to make the tenet responable because they are losing money.Try taking tha argument to court.

You Players who are SO GREEDY and are not willing to adjust your salary as the rest of American workers have, all of you should be ASHAMED of yourselves! You can be so easily REPLACED, because there will always be someone else out there better than you who would be grateful for having the opprotunity that you GREEDY players take for granted. I have to tell you I’M NOT GONG TO PAY THE HIGH TICKET PRICES. I’ll go to a college game and watch players that have heart than watch a bunch of spoiled brats

Wow what has the world come to here we are living paycheck to paycheck just to get by, what ever happened to being thankful for being a part of a very elite group of indivisuals who make it to play pro ball. I am a very big fan of pro ball and as of today I am proud to say that I am no longer a NBA fan, these idiots make hundreds of millions of dollars and they fell they are intitled to make more money than the people who actually own the teams. What nerve these idiots these guys have. I hope all of the players go broke a cannot make there bills.HMM that kind of how we all live why should these guys live any other way, they come from megar begginings like we do maybe they should all go back to how they use to live.That would make me fill good because all of the people that are educated and have a good job dont make a year make what these idoits make in one year.

Wow, the owners and players are so greedy. If they can’t play a basketball game just because they aren’t getting enough “money”, they should draft college players who actually want to play. Or just deal with the amount of money that they are getting.

I dont understand why or how the employees expect to make more than the owners. If I was the person who took all the initial risk to create a team so these men could even have jobs, then an even split would probably be ok with me. I dont make as much as my boss and i dont expect to. I knew the risk of the job when I took it and could leave at any time. The players need to take the even split and call it a day.

This is pathetic both sides but even more so the players it is revenue on top of the money they get for their salaries this keeps up I won’t be watching basketball anymore.. I so sick of these unions and the owners and all the crap that goes along with it

players are willing to negotiate…, owners came with a premeditated plan…their way or the highway ( as Paul Allen said clearly last wek)..they don’t want a season,they have been lying (Dereck Fisher/Billy Hunter gave clear details of that),they don’t care about fans, NBA employees or small busines around arenas.
This lockout is no more than a competition between the talent and the power, NBA commissioner and Deputy commissioner are both orquestating this circus, shame on them,for how much $$$$$ ?

Yes, the players should take the 50/50 deal. It is less that you made last year but you averaged 5Mil each. You make too much as it is. If you don’t like 50 percent, which is a great deal since you bounce a ball to get it, then go get a job making 15 bucks a hour like the rest of us and see if that is any better. Take the deal or your fans will leave.

I should revise that. Take the deal or the fans you have left will leave.

Owners don’t have a team without talented players and talented players don’t have a job without and wealthy owners. Where I come from that is a 50/50 deal. I don’t know how they got away with 57 percent for the last 10 years anyway. It was good while it lasted but all good things must come to and end.

Its just that when I see a 25 year old pulling up in his Escalade sitting on 24 inch rims with 7 lcd’s glowing in the background along with tats all over his body and a 2 carat diamond in his ear, I don’t feel bad when his income goes from 5 mil to 4.7mil per year.

Players need to just take the 50/50 and get to playing ball. It’s to bad that the people that serve hot dogs at the games won’t be able to put food on the table for their families because we are arguing over 2.5%!!

This sucks……… That’s it, I am done with following this stupid lockout. Ya’ll have officially lost me as a fan, and have lost my respect. All I see in front of me are a bunch of greedy players and owners. This is completely unacceptable considering today’s economy and unemployment rate. All you guys think about is yourselves and the greed that follows.

With that said, for those of you players and owners that read these posts, remember this, “what goes around, comes around and this stupid lockout is going to come back and haunt the NBA for years if not decades to come”. I am out, Peace!

So lemme get this straight.
Owners want : 50-50.
Players want: 52-48.
Is it me or is 51-49 too logical? I mean the players have already sacrificed 5% or $1.2bil (whatever it is) so why cant they just be locked in the room with no food or water and either figure out the band of 50-53 that Billy suggested or settle on 51-49 and finish this like adults not whiney children who aren’t willing to compromise.
P.S seems to me the players have sacrificed plenty so far.

The NBA is a dying game. College is the only place to watch quality basket ball anymore!!! david stern screwd a fan base in Seattle that had 40 years of tradition and support. I predict that Europe will be the place to watch profesional ball in the future.

Is this really, all that’s preventing a season from starting now, 2%?? That’s disgusting. At the same time, It’s pretty obvious to me that if one side wants 50 and the other wants 52, and neither want to budge, you go half way and have a 49-51 split…

this is just ffffffffnnnn ridiculous!!!! so sick and tired of these greedy azzz owners who have made bad business decisions wanting the people who bring in all of the money, the players, to bail them out. It’s such bull stuff that all of us fans have to suffer when there have already been comprimises on things like bri. Why shouldnt the players get more????? No one would watch or buy gear if it wasnt for them and theyve already come down in their percentage significantly soooooo now its just a lame azzz stalemate on seeing whos going to give in first. Im pissed and i know im not the only one!!!

You obviously don’t understand anything that’s going on. It doesn’t matter what decisions the owners make, they still have to pay the players 57% of BRI. In other words, even if they didn’t give out big contracts, they would have to compensate all players afterwards. This is a fixed cost at 57%, and they would still lose the same money. It’s the players that are greedy here, not the owners. I’m about to make a lousy comment, but unfortunately it fits perfectly. They are acting like wellfare dependent parasites, that only want their money, and don’t care who goes bankrupt to get it.

“Why shouldn’t the players get more” ? That is a WTF moment right there….. They dont need more – they probably need less, What is wrong with a 50 50 split , lol you are crazy if you dont take the deal …. These guys are acting like babies and are crying over things not being fair when they have more cheese then you could imagine ,,,,,, and then people like you stick up for them? what the???? Vote ron paul 2012!!!

I’d like both sides to cancel the season and not try to rush things through just to get the NBA back on television. Given the amount of time taken off so far, why isn’t Team USA gearing up for next year’s Olympics in London?

Now this is getting out of hand. The one thing I look forward to all year is the basketball season. Here is what I say screw all these players and start new. New draft, new talent drop all the these players. Yeah, we will probably miss LeBron and Kobe and the great players in the league for a while but we will get over them, wait we are over them. We want to see some backetball and we want a full season. I don’t ask my boss for a 50 50 split on all the profits. Why? cause I can be replaced just like anyone else. Come on guys your asking a bit much.

Absolutely ludicrous idea. You can’t replace guys like Dirk, LeBron, Kobe, Blake Griffin — the most exciting player in the game, Dewayne etc.. Remember the replacement players in the NFL? The quality of the game was abysmal. So forget about the idea of replacement NBA players. I would rather watch the college game.

50/50 sounds like a round number that’s “fair”… but when your last pay was at 57%, its not fair at all. Yes the players are prepared to take a pay cut, but what the owners are offering is pathetic. They want to guarantee their profits…. and they would most certainly do that with the amount of money they are asking from the players.

But what other business on the planet has guaranteed profits? None.

Owners have drawn a line in the sand so far away from what the current system is, that it’s unfair and unrealistic that the players should basically be held to ransom to “take it or leave it”.

Changes are necessary…. but owners want too much too soon. They are the ones being unfair here. In any other fair negotiating session, there needs to be logical steps from “what currently is, to where things should be”. Owners may as well ask for 75%… because that’s how unlrealistic they are being right now.

Cloe the NBA down for the season. Let’s the courts decide. Let’s get messy and see what a truely independant judge jury and executioner says.

Maybe a clean slate is what is needed. Void all contracts. Decertify. Make the OWNERS & PLAYERS lose everything that means most to them.

It is “Kinda” a big deal….. they are lucky to have a job like this – these guys should not even have a union. When you make millions or hundreds of thousands – you think you deserve equal treatment now? if you make money like that you need to take care of yourself – these guys are fighting over peanuts now

Come on David Stern and Billy Hunter, let’s keep the momentum going and start the season. This is a chance for both the players and owners to come out good in the eyes of the fans. PLEASE! If not for the fans, do it for all the Arena employees and for the better of the economy. Let’s do this!

So you want to go back to watching 76ers do what? Win a game or two or do you want to see your team win it all for once? Help me understand where your coming from? Because system needs a fine tuning and if everything goes back to the way it was what would be your purpose to watch nba. To see if my favourite team Raptors and 76ers battle it out for last place for 82 games. Do you really think that 76ers would beat Boston, New York ???

Dude don’t hate like that. The sixers have history and have lifelong fans regardless. They aren’t upper tier yet, but they have potential as long as they stay the course that they have set forth. Note the fact that the sixers made the playoffs and gave the heat a wakeup call in the playoffs. The heat were better, but they couldn’t pull a first quarter against the sixers to save their lives. If the sixers stay the course they will be challenging the Bulls for Eastern conference supremecy for years to come as the nba changes constantly The heat only have a short window to get that championship The sixers and bulls have a much much larger window due to the age of the main cogs to develop and drop/improvise contracts with their dead weight. And this is coming from an Orlando fan knowing the Gil has turned the Magic into the knicks of yesteryear (Post Ewing but Prior to Donnie Walsh)….

Contrary to popular belief championships are not built in a day… Chemistry is the key.

Get the season going so that everyone… Regardless if you are a Laker fan, a Cav fan, a Twolf fan, a Mav fan, a Heat fan or other fan can start enjoying the season.

cant wait until its done and over! basketball is the top sport that i care about watching and the thought of there being none this season would be sad. i am glad that they are finally getting closer to a deal being done. its sad how people who make millions of dollar are crying about money. they make more money than most of us will ever make in their lives. its a shame how they think its all about them but what about that die hard fans who are getting let down with every game they wont get to watch. basketball is my sport and i would love to see it back soon cuz i really dont wanna watch hockey, i mean hockey is ok but is not like basketball.

. I really do not care if they reach a deal or not. I still think that the fact that the teachers in our schools are hardly making enough money to survive but these guys can make millions of dollars throwing a ball through a hoop is a said testimony to the state of our collective mentality. Actually we should be paying our teachers the millions and these guys the peanuts if you look at the relative importance of what each contributes to society, The fact that the players are striking for even more money has completely turned me off from professional basketball and I vow never to watch another game

Okay Mr. Taylor, that can be said about mostly every other job in America. I make more than teachers now and my job is not nearly as improtant than a teachers. Why single out Basketball? Don’t get mad at the player of the NBA take it to the government.

if you get more than a teacher that scary? why because for you to think that we can complaint to the government about players salary is scary. On the other hand, Everything in this world has lost value housing market, stock market, even average people wages. But millionaire are fighting over have a 50/50 split in a sport that is funded by the owners. Where in the world to you every hear of people getting a chance to complaint about millions other than in sports. Not just basketball, but soccer, hockey, and baseball.

I still believe players have no more greater value than a doctor, teacher or policemen. You don’t call Kobe to cure your sickness, you don’t ask D. Rose to teach your kids and you sure don’t ask Melo to save you. So why should ball players be paid more???

NBA players are the highest paid athletes among all of the professional sports. My heart does not bleed for them striking, in fact I could really care less. I care about the vendors, the ma and pa bars around the areans, arena employees…those people are the ones that are really suffering. I don’t need some NBA player saying, “I have a family to feed.” Yes…there are plenty of professions that are paid more than teachers and we should not single out the NBA, however, Mr G Money, you are working, the teachers are working, these cry babies are not working. I remember when baseball was going to strike and the last game that was to be played was played in Anaheim. The fans were throwing dollar bills out on the field. This reminds me of that situation. The players make a ton of money, the owners make a ton of money, they have almost priced the most average fan out of the arena and people sit here and defend the NBA. What stake other than entertainment do you have in it? If anyone truly cared about the fan…would this lockout actually be taking place?

I too am frustrated. Also. I agree that our teachers deserves more $ and RESPECT. Afterall, Pro basketball is just a game while our teachers are preparing the next generation that will eventually run this society.

But I must side with the players in this dispute. The average player only has a very short career and risks serious injury every time they are on the court. The owners sit in their luxury boxes to watch their hired hands entertain them without any risk involved. And they make $ from other sources .plus the value of their franchises keep increasing.

THank you!! Sombody with some common sense. We need kobe back on tv! :) but cmon, really? Just solve this crap already. it really isnt that hard. If both sides would lose some of that greediness thats causing all this commotion, problems, delay, and waste of money. We could be watching Kobe outdoing Lebron as always, and even watching Derrick Rose’s mvp homecoming year! We could be seeing the possible rise of the knicks. We could be watching blake griffin dunk on everyone and thier grandmothers. but, we have to sit around and wait for all this to be over.

This is such grewat news :) I really hope its not just false hope. You know what the best part of this is, if the lockout ends in the next few days? The FLURRY of trades, FA signings, and and of course, watching the players back in the gym practicing and playing some games!!! AWESOME! We’ll also probably see some extremely out of shape players, but most guys have been balling hard this summer, so I don’t expect the basketball to be too sloppy for too long. LET’S GET THIS DONE, EXCITING TIMES AHEAD FOLKS!

While there are no new ideas on the table here is my suggestion to re-open the stalled negotiations.

It seems that the agreement should be in two major parts: one for the players that are already playing at the NBA and a separate agreement for the new players that will play in the NBA in the future.

To negotiate a new agreement for future players – it will be easier to compromise on closing to a 50/50 split of revenue in a few years and solve the other issues over the long-term, so the players who are in the league now, with more leverage, can keep something approaching the status quo.

This way the percentage of players’ salary costs to overall revenue can be weaned from 57% to 54% , and down the road to a more equitable split. This kind of two-tiered plan – that includes an existing players’ agreement and a “new players’ agreement” could lead to final collective bargaining compromise and bring back both sides to the right kind of court.

It’s time to end the legal moves and go back to watching basketball moves. There’s too much at stake for too many people.

Let them get a deal done, I will not spend a single dime going to an NBA game this year…anyone else ready for OccupyNBA? Lower ticket prices for those of us paying your salaries, then we’ll think about coming back
….Millionaires and billionaires complaining about money is boring

im with you bro…. i love the game of basketball … but enough is enough … which ever way you look at this, both owners and players are looking just for their own greed. do think they really care about the basketball fans????? really????

I really hope they’ll get a deal done by today.. I mean, everyone wins.. Owners get what they want, players get what they want.. Both sides sacrificed but it’s about the love of the game.. Business is business but lets get this deal done now please!

I’m glad they cancelled more of the games. I wish they had cancelled the whole 2011-2012 season to wake up the players. The rest of the world out here starving and these guys making 5.5 million (avg) per year to play a silly game.

why there is BRI share for players?i thougt if you are employee in a company you dont have share in there income you only have incentives,bonus,13th month pay and SALARY.if you are good player you have many endorsement,that is your own income.that goes to your pocket. your company is asking for share in your endorsement?

why there is BRI share for players?i thougt if you are employee in a company you dont have share in there income you only have incentives,bonus,13th month pay and SALARY.if you are good player you have many endorsement,that is your own income.that goes to your pocket. your company is asking for share in your endorsement?